Phantom's Hand
by Paper Pauper
Summary: At first it was just defeating them to crush their hopes- training wild Pokémon to high levels and spreading rumors of the numerous hardships and dangers to dissuade them but it slowly transformed into a much more deadly operation. The organization became known as the Phantom Hand, the cause of many of the missing children. The time of pure terror...the fist had fallen. OCs needed!
1. OC Form

_**Phantom's Hand**_

I'd like to thank Meteorthunder3 and BloodStarGeneral. Without their helpful comments I'd have never even thought of writing a prologue!

**_..._**

_In a region off the southern coast of Johto there is a small region known as Denjin. Though the other regions have elites, Denjin is the only one to be ruled by a legitimate monarch and he plans to keep it that way. Known as the Pokémon King, only a few have seen him and even fewer truly know him. _

_Under his rule Denjin had flourished but now that the amount of young trainers on journeys is on a rise a terrible plot is starting to unfold._ _It all began when one young hotshot trainer came from Kanto and completely blazed through all the nine gyms without the King's permission. Never before had these leaders lost. Not only that, after that trainer had defeated all the gym leaders, he had set his sights on defeating Denjin's legendary Pokémon that bound earth and space. It was rumored to be connected to the Pokémon King himself, so it came as a great shock when the mighty creature was overcome and that's when things went downhill. Inspired by the feats of this amazing trainer, the young of Denjin began to train even harder then ever before, actually beating the leaders who had been ordered to squash all hopes of battling._

_Suddenly the King no longer felt secure in his position. If an uprising against his rule took place, all his efforts to isolate and control his region would go down the drain. He had to stop these upcoming trainers at all costs and in the end he would get the very trainer who started it all. When the Pokémon King finally had that brat begging for mercy…well then his people would never dare to rise up and challenge his power again._

_At first it was just defeating them to crush their hopes- training wild Pokémon to high levels and spreading rumors of the numerous hardships and dangers, but it slowly transformed into a much more deadly operation. The organization became known as the Phantom Hand, the cause of many of the missing children. The time of pure terror…who would be the one to break the Hand's constrictive grip?_

**...**

OCs needed desperately to fill in roles! Can't wait to get started. The form is below and I'd really appreciate detailed, well-defined characters. If you can I'd prefer the characters to be PMed to me.

**Characters**

**OC Form**

Full Name:

Nickname:

Date of Birth:

Sex:

Height:

Weight:

Body Type:

Hair Color:

Eye Color:

Skin Tone:

Race:

Appearance:

Nationalities (Johto, Hoenn, Kanto, Denjin ect.):

Birthplace (Johto, Hoenn, Kanto, Denjin ect.):

Personality:

Beliefs:

Virtues:

Vices:

Bad Habits:

Fears:

Talents:

Sexual Orientation:

Pokémon (Maximum of six):

**Thanks!**

**~Paper Pauper**


	2. Hope to Die

Leon Balestida. Tall guy with a killer smile, enchanting charisma, sharp humour and the cutest Aipom to ever exist. It was a cultivation of traits all designed for one singular purpose.

He hadn't always been this way. A long time ago he had once been the type of guy with whom people would share a laugh with. Now he was what led to doom: the prelude to complete and total annihilation. He was the shadow during the day, doing what the other operatives could not. They were good but it was he and not them who could blend so well into an environment that he did not belong to. Like a shadow, he was obviously out of place in the sun-drenched world and it was only through his natural charm that he got away with being accepted as one of the regulars.

He wasn't though and he knew that all to well. The information he handed over without a thought was proof of that. No one else would ever be as good as him. He was the best and if he withheld information, well what could they do about it? Except he never did and he never would, a fact that all the agents knew completely. His position was his life, the organization all he knew. So what if he sealed the fate of so many? It was his fate that mattered and it was one protected by the devil himself. Who could Leon turn to if even the devil wanted nothing to do with him?

When everything he stood for was crushed who stood to pick up the pieces? Not the "good guys" of course. They had no interest in collateral damage and for that he hated them. They tried to blunder through by force.

Idiots. Now he knew better. He was trained to do better.

He was aware that in order to keep the peace the subjects of Denjin could not be free. They always wanted the two things they could never have – independent freedom. Humans are volatile by nature, each and everyone power-hungry to a fault. How could each human be a free individual and retain their precious social hierarchy of class and oppression? It was illogical and Leon was tasked with keeping the idiocy inspired by the other regions that had fallen into disarray squashed like a bug. Unlike Denjin, those regions were weak and hardly united in any way. The Phantom Hand would guide first Denjin back on track and then they'd spread their message to all the corners off the globe.

His superiors had challenged him with the task of leading the hunt and he would not fail. He would charm his way into their good books, finding out who his targets were, what they stood for and most importantly what they hoped to achieve. Hope was dangerous. Hope was to be crushed. Leon was designed to see to its destruction. The last girl was a prime example of how dangerous it could be.

She had hoped to become a trainer, similar to that of the hated enemy. That was her first mistake. Then she hoped to defeat the first gym and she did, bolstered by the strength she had at her fingertips. The gym leader was eliminated promptly for such failure and the girl tagged for disposal. Then Leon was called in and her fate was sealed, bound tightly by the thin red string of fate. With a little coaxing he found her plans for the immediate future. She told him of how she was headed to Ptol Gate for another battle and by the next morning she was found dead on Route 12, her gym badge gleaming warningly in her clenched fist. She had hoped for a change and she got one.

With his job successful (as always), Leon stepped away from the scene. He didn't want to be there when cleanup came to harvest her soul shard. Dirty business it was.


	3. Soul Shard

On the outskirts of some city, a bag buzzed, its contents trying desperately to be heard. Light brown eyes lazily opened only to narrow into a glare at the offending bag. Willing herself to sit up, Elizabeth reached into the bag and felt around for her phone. Grabbing it she rolled her eyes after finding out who was calling. She quickly answered, hiding a yawn behind her hand as she did.

"Hello Lukas…"

"Elizabeth, inform me as soon as you receive it. Leon has reported that the target has been downed."

"Will do Lukas," she grumbled back. "Its not like this is my first time waiting for those nincompoops to hurry it up. Why am I always the one who has to receive it? I could be doing much more useful things back at the lab."

The man coughed lightly in protest. "That's sir to you and anyways, obtaining it is important. I wouldn't trust anyone else."

"Humph, well maybe I don't want your trust," she muttered half-heartedly, holding it to her ear until she heard a click signaling that he had hung up.

Sighing Elizabeth leaned back against the tree she had initially been leaning on, wiggling until she found a comfortable position. If Leon had just sent the word that meant that it'd probably be ten minutes before the cleanup squad would have begun the process of removing the soul shard. Five minutes for completing the procedure and another five for them to transport it.

"So I'm stuck here for twenty minutes…great."

The soul shards – they'd been just one big ball of inconveniences for Elizabeth. Only three years back both her and Lukas had been working as trainees in the lab. Now, a year after he had discovered the so called "soul shards", he had been elevated to Head of Experiments while she had remained behind. She hated all the hoopla. He had stumbled upon an ancient part of the body that gave humans their adaptive and enduring qualities. So what? Why did their organization care so much about what went on inside people's brains anyways? The average citizens of Denjin didn't even posses significantly impressive soul shards for the shards appear only in those who lives outside of the norm. With the Pokémon King's in power, being anything other than what he dictated was quickly turning into a very dangerous thing. Personally she thought he was starting to lose his touch, but a statement like that would have her ending up like the girl whose shard she was waiting for.

"Poor girl. Wonder what she did?"

Sometimes Elizabeth marveled at how the Phantom Hand got away with so much. How did the citizens not know? Maybe Lukas would know now that he was a big shot scientist. She would ask him when she got back…and when would the damn shard arrive?

Elizabeth checked her watch, the green hands counting down the seconds till when they'd be late. As it ticked closer, a shadow stretched over its face, obscuring Elizabeth's view.

She stretched her hands upwards and collected the package, the shard's warmth pulsing slowly. Almost sadly, she thought ruefully as she tucked it into her satchel. She stood up and brushed her jeans off. Like every single time before, whoever delivered the shards was long gone and Elizabeth was left to trek back to home base alone.

…

The lobby was cold and completely devoid of life when she entered, her boots echoing in the silence. To other agents it may have been a sign to panic but for those who worked in the lab, the complete solitude was to be expected. Most of the scientists employed here were not socializers nor did they appreciate help of any kind. Thus the lounging areas were always empty and there were never any secretaries to help organize and file the work. Each scientist would be underground, working madly on whatever they project they had been assigned except for one, and it was to that one laid-back scientist that Elizabeth was headed for.

It took a while to reach his area but when she did she promptly knocked on his office door. For a few moments she waited without receiving an answer. She knocked again only to get the same results. Quickly becoming frustrated, Elizabeth hitched her satchel up and pounded on the door.

"Lukas Alexander Williams! If you do not open this door in ten seconds I am kicking it down so I can beat your scrawny ass!"

Hearing nothing she huffed and quickly swung her foot back, smashing the door down with a practiced ease.

"That wasn't ten seconds," a voice whined from the bed tucked away in the office corner as the boy blinked at her owlishly. "I was coming y'know."

Elizabeth simply plopped the wrapped soul shard down on his desk, smirking at his crazy bed head. Shrugging, she flung herself into his swivel chair. "Time waits for no one. You were just too slow."

"And you are much too impatient," he retorted as he got up to grab the shard. "Thanks for bringing this by the way."

Elizabeth waved it off, a faint blush on her face. "So how are the shards reacting?"

"Quite well actually," Lukas replied. "They've begun to fuse into a single crystalline formation. I'd say we only need a few more before we have a complete soul crystal. With that we could implant it into someone and see how great the effect is on them."

"Essentially you want to see if these shards can create stronger survival instincts right?"

He gave a nod as he began to unwrap the packaging around the shard. "If my hypothesis is correct, then a larger soul shard means that someone would have a very tenacious will to live and by extension, the ability to somehow find a way to maintain existence no matter what. If we can get that I'm sure we could use it on our own agents."

"Will it work?" Elizabeth asked. "I mean we know nothing about implanting shards. Even extracting these things takes a whole squad!"

"C'mon Lizzie," he said, slinging an arm around her shoulder to pull her close. "Its only the solution that matters."

His booming laugh filled the room but it did nothing to ease the anxiety Elizabeth felt from what that statement implied. She could only chuckle along weakly, feeling for the first time ever, claustrophobic in her best friend's arms.

She had suffered from the methods that led to the finish numerous times. The end never justifies the means. How could Lukas forget?


End file.
